Ideology

An ideology is a system of social or political ideas — a set of beliefs about how society works and how it should be changed. Britannica defines it as “a form of social or political philosophy, or a system of ideas, that aspires both to explain the world and to change it.” In civic life, ideology shapes how people interpret issues, parties, and policy choices, and it usually spans economic, social, and foreign-policy beliefs at once.

Example: The debate over ratifying the Constitution produced clashing ideologies on record: the Federalist Papers argued for a stronger national government, while Anti-Federalist writings argued against it — a founding-era example of opposed systems of political ideas (guides.loc.gov).

Common misconception: Ideology and political party are not the same thing. A party is an organization that usually attracts people with similar ideologies, but the two don’t map one-to-one: parties contain competing ideological wings, and the same ideology can exist within several parties.

Sources: Ideology | Britannica; The Federalist Papers | Library of Congress Research Guides